Attractional Church Model Paper

I chose to do my religious ethnographic study at my home church, Tabernacle Baptist Church in Youngstown, Ohio on Sunday, May 8, 2016. Tabernacle is an 112-year-old historic Black Baptist church located on the lower Northside of Youngstown surrounded by a mixed income housing development, homeless shelter, Youngstown State University, and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. I would say the average age of a Tabernacle member is 55 years old. About 70% of the members at this church are “middle-class” families. Until about five years ago, its membership was almost exclusively middle class. There has seen an influx of membership in working class individuals and students since the arrival of Tabernacle’s young, vibrant pastor, Rev. Christopher McKee, Jr., three years ago. The church is attentive to the needs of this demographic but remains true to its historic Black Baptist church roots. The church previously struggled with this conundrum until it came to the reality that an exclusivist mindset around worship is detrimental to the body of Christ when it did not have a pastor for over three years. The church was dying because no one was welcome to it and it did not have a leader. Though it was difficult, this reassessment was beneficial in making Tabernacle more relevant and welcoming to the community it is blessed to serve.

In the Introduction section of the book, The Hidden Lives of Congregations, Israel Galindo states that a congregation is a “corporate relationship organization” (3) and is not an organization. He points out that the hidden life of a congregation would depict the “nature” of a congregation. This further identifies the relationships and faith of the congregation. According to him, the universal principles are followed by the congregations so that “systemic relationships” can work. The leaders learn the roles that they have within the people who are the congregation. The journal will focus on Dr. Fowler’s question “what is the purpose of this gathering we call the church?”

After reading the lecture notes church structure chart, I would say that my church falls between the attractional and organic view of small groups. We have an amazing new building that has a “come and see” feel; but, we also believe in relational missional groups that go out in the community. We believe that all gifts are needed in the body of Christ. We believe in forward movement, so we do count people and dollars. But our real success is measured in life change. We have a large budget that supports the staff and property, but a large portion of that budget

Subsequently, the church has a mission which is to go into all the nations making disciples, baptizing them, and to teach them to observe the ways of Christ as noted in Matthew 28:19-20. When looking at the differences between the missional model and the attractional model is the missional goes out to win the lost, and the attractional seeks to bring the lost in not focusing the cultural boundaries. Stetzer and Hirsch state, “Missional represents a significant shift in the way we understand the church. As the people of a missionary God, we are entrusted to participate in the world the same way He does—by committing to be His ambassadors.” In retrospect, Hirsch cites that, “The attractional model, which has dominated the church in the West, seeks to reach out to the culture and draw people into the church—what I call outreach and in-grab. But this model only works where no significant cultural shift is required when moving from outside to inside the church.” Both have their uniqueness, however, they are designed to seek and make disciples.

• What do you see in today's local church that is similar or different from the early church?

According to research done over the years, most churches, once formed, hit the ground running only to decline after a period of time. there are many reason as to why this happens. This is one of the concerns for the “Comeback Churches” by Ed Stetzer and mike Dodson. Typically, many of the churches start very strong. They go ahead and have good periods of growth but later find themselves declining and finally losing members.

Rochelle Vann, I generally agree with your assessment of how many churches have “commercialized” their worship services in an attempt to fill the pews. I wonder how much of this is simply due to the fact that the church – in many places - has conformed to the culture rather than the church impacting the culture? Pettit (2008) says that “Since salvation is holistic, one possibly obvious implication of the spiritual formation process is that the believer's life should ultimately affect the culture” (p. 48).

The dress code, in today’s times, is seen as strict. The men are expected to wear collared-shirts, no shorts or jeans. The women must wear dresses at least to the knee. If one breaks the dress code, they won’t be ostracized or anything of that nature. I have heard the preacher preach on how men and women should dress, I would imagine that it made some people feel awkward. In order to become a member of the church, one must be baptized by immersion. It’s usually done in a river or lake nearby. On Sunday’s Sunday school starts around 9:45, there’s a dismissal at 10:50 and the Sunday service starts at 11 o’clock. We go back to church for the 6 o’clock pm service and again on Wednesday at 7:30 pm. There are separate prayer meetings for men and women before the Sunday service and an altar call after every service. Members are expected to give a 10% tithe to the church each Sunday. The Bible is the King James Version and we follow the Ten Commandments. No decisions are made without being brought before the congregation at a business meeting. Also, one doesn’t ask for a church role, the pastor will assign them or be voted in. If asked, the pastor might not consider

I can’t recall not being a part of New Hope Baptist Church because when I was growing up my parents attended everything and they “had us in tow”. I remember being brought to church in the winter and my parents lining us up on the seats next to the potbellied stove. We were required to take care of our “personal business” before entering because we were not allowed to walk while the services were in progress. I really have a hard time understanding why some young people today cannot sit through an entire service right now today. As children the church conferences often baffled us. While watching and listening, sometimes things got into a disagreeable mode. As children, we thought those deacons were at odds with each other, but when they

I am part of Grace Covenant Church, which is part of an organization called, Every Nation. Every Nation has churches in Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and America. Some folkways that I practice are going to church every Sunday and talking about the message with my family afterwards. For me, church has never been about meeting with people who think like me, it was my time to spend with God. I always preferred one on one time with God, rather than group discussion. Our church holds yearly mission trips, and frequently holds

In my experience at first progressive Baptist Church I was very much out of my comfort zone because not only did I not feel as welcomed but it was a little awkward because of all the looks I was receiving. I felt I was not dressed as they were and felt as if I didn't fit in and right away I just didn't feel appropriate with my attire. While I was there I actually had people wanting to shake hands and asking me questions about me coming and there was one man who just stared at me and so it was uncomfortable and didn't know how to react. While I was there I started to notice that there is a little difference from the church I go to and the music was way different as well, everyone will talk back with amen or thank you Jesus. The difference

Two churches with two different ways of doing their worship ceremony on Sundays. I have visited two different churches I went to Newberg Friends Church and St. Peters Catholic Church. I have never gone to church my whole life so going to these churches I had a clean slate going in. I want to tell you about some of the differences I saw between the churches because they were there and they were apparent to me when visiting the two different churches. Some of the things that were different between the churches were the liturgy. The two various services were conducted differently they both sang songs at some point in the worship. Also, there were differences in the churches in the way of their architecture and the art they had around. Both churches both had a distinct difference on how the church was presented to people. Finally, the differences in the sacraments they do and many of the ones they do are the same to the other. There are many differences in the churches, and it was something interesting to see how the two different cultures differed to each other. The differences that will be described will show how the two churches have a distinct difference in what makes them who they are.

Modern day churches are built almost like gyms or arenas to hold massive concerts, shows, or events. They are still safe houses for followers, but they have become modernized. Instead of churches being a safe place to feel God’s presence, some kind of become safe places to play at. This is especially true since most churches in Odessa either have a gym, class rooms, day cares, youth game areas, or all of the above. Of course, the church is still used as a place for holy gatherings and community events like soup kitchens, but it can seem like these purposes have been outshined by the religio-tainment

the age of members and church location and size to validate, changes in the church. The census

This course has had a great impact on my walk with Christ as well as my witness for Christ. I pastor a church and teach two classes and for me I thought that I was doing plenty. However this course has helped rekindle my passion for sharing Jesus Christ with people through personal evangelism. This paper will demonstrate what I have learned throughout this course.